Once the building is complete, BlueBird will use the space to produce lentiviral vector for the company’s severe gene and cell therapies, including Lenti-D for the treatment of cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy; LentiGlobin for the treatment of transfusion-dependent ?-thalassemia and severe sickle cell disease; and bb2121 and bb21217 for the treatment of multiple myeloma.

BlueBird’s investment in larger infrastructure will help advance and facilitate its products’ late-stage development and commercial launch.

“The North Carolina manufacturing site will complement our important external manufacturing partnerships,” said chief manufacturing and technology officer Derek Adams in a press release.

Manufacturing is currently 20.04 percent of North Carolina’s share of gross state product, ranking it as one of the top five manufacturing states as of March 2017.

BlueBird also has entered three multi-year manufacturing agreements with Brammer Bio of Cambridge, Massachusetts; Novasep of Belgium; and MilliporeSigma of Carlsbad, California. Each partner is collaborating with BlueBird on the production of lentiviral vectors.